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Bob with a chunky Brookie.

Name: Bob Erickson

Home: Vermont/Maine

Occupation: Defense Department - Quality Assurance

Started fly fishing: I had a brief career in my late twenties, early thirties, then got very serious about mountain and technical climbing. Eight years ago, a couple of friends and I took the fly gear on a week-long backpack through the heart of Baxter State Park in Maine. The remote pond fishing for colored-up, pre-spawn brook trout was outstanding and I was re-hooked - big time. From there fly fishing became an obsession and I took up tying with equal enthusiasm. (You know how that goes.) My wife and I recently built a cabin in Rangeley, Maine, right in the heart of the best brook trout and landlocked salmon fishery in the state. I've died and gone to heaven.

Best time angling: This past spring was a particularly cold and wet one. It was mid-May and I hadn't even felt a fish yet. My friend Bruce came over to fish for three days and we headed to a long deep run that had usually been good early. On my second drift, I hooked up with a big, heavy fish - to my great disappointment, a 20" (plus) sucker. A few minutes later, Bruce did the same. Then the light bulb came on…spring spawning suckers, the brook trout must be lined up behind them waiting for the feast. I had experimented with a half dozen egg patterns over the winter and they proved to be the ticket. The next morning we quit after having landed over thirty fish between us. Six or so salmon in the 18 - 20" range, the rest brook trout, none less than 16" and a few pushing 20" and 4 pounds.

Favorite lake, river, or salt fishing spot: The Kennebago River, a ten minute drive from our cabin in Rangeley. Good fall rains and falling water temperatures bring up the brook trout and salmon to stage prior to the spawn in late October. The fishing can be spectacular, the scenery and wildlife equally so.

Fishing trip of a lifetime: I've already done it - Three Rivers Lodge in Labrador for huge brook trout. In August 2004, I managed to land one that measured 26-1/2" long with an 18" girth. Calculated to 10.7 pounds. As amazing as the fishing is, it's the wilderness and the local guides that really make it the trip of a lifetime. I'm booked to return for the last week of June 2006.

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